Unions have called on the government to place a moratorium on electricity tariff hikes or face protest action, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Wednesday. Eskom has requested a 53% price increase from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.
African National Congress (ANC) MPs with disabilities have threatened to embark on protests if the quality of service rendered to disabled people at South African airports is not improved. Briefing the media on Thursday, ANC MP Maxwell Moss said the Airports Company South Africa, as well as airlines, had failed to attend to the needs of disabled passengers.
Political parties and union leaders were outraged on Wednesday over Eskom’s proposed tariff hike of 53% and the devastating effect it would have on the country. The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it was absolutely horrified at the proposal and demanded an extended consultation process on Eskom’s latest plans.
The Chamber of Mines has welcomed the decision to marginally increase the supply of electricity to the mining industry, it said on Friday. In recent weeks the chamber has been urgently interacting with the government and Eskom in an effort to persuade them to normalise power-consumption levels in the mining sector, CEO Mzolisi Diliza said.
The South African Communist Party (SACP), a partner in the governing alliance, said on Sunday it would not tolerate threats by mining companies to cut jobs in the country’s politically-charged power crisis. ”If heads must roll we cannot allow it be the workers who take the knock,” it said in a statement after its central committee met over the weekend.
No image available
/ 29 February 2008
Industrial users of electricity feel that they are bearing the brunt of electricity rationing, while more needs to be done to involve other sectors of society, an energy working group said in Cape Town on Friday. ”Busa [Business Unity South Africa] said that businesses are bearing the brunt of this and need the rest of the economy to come in,” Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said.
No image available
/ 28 February 2008
Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin should refrain from making unsubstantiated comments on the job-loss threats faced by thousands of mineworkers, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. On Wednesday Erwin said that it was unclear whether proposed job cuts in the industry were caused by power cuts and electricity rationing.
No image available
/ 27 February 2008
It is unclear whether proposed job cuts in the mining industry are caused by power cuts and electricity rationing, or other factors, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in Parliament on Wednesday. ”I’ve been a trade unionist for many years, and you often use an event like this to explain something you’re going to do anyway,” he said.
No image available
/ 20 February 2008
Eskom is not as concerned about the domestic availability of sufficient coal as it is with the speed at which it could be mined, <i>Business Day</i> reported on Wednesday. The national power utility is also worried about logistical problems in transporting the coal to power stations.
No image available
/ 11 February 2008
South Africans can expect tight energy supply for another four years, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said in Cape Town on Monday. The country’s energy supply problems are no different from those of other developing countries, he told a media briefing in Parliament.
No image available
/ 8 February 2008
There was nothing ”unusual” about President Thabo Mbeki’s Friday State of the Nation address, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said. ”Contrary to the stated theme of his speech, this was business as usual for the president,” she said. Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said Mbeki’s address was ”another list of promises”.
No image available
/ 6 February 2008
The new leader of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, will be one of the principal dignitaries at the opening of Parliament on Friday, when his predecessor Thabo Mbeki will be making what could be his last speech on the state of the nation.
No image available
/ 31 January 2008
Understandably, in a time of crisis someone has to carry the blame.
No image available
/ 31 January 2008
In a surprise move, South African electricity utility Eskom has withdrawn its authorisation for the mining industry to increase its electricity use from 80% to 90% on Thursday. News of the decision came from Gold Fields, the world’s fourth-largest gold producer, which informed the media in a statement.
No image available
/ 31 January 2008
South Africa’s crippling power crisis will not put off investors nor limit its ability to stage the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Wednesday. Rolling power cuts have plagued homes, businesses and the mining industry in South Africa for weeks and are likely to continue for about five years, according to state power utility Eskom.
No image available
/ 30 January 2008
Power failures could be a thing of the past if metropolitan areas cut their electricity usage by 10%, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Wednesday. ”If we can do that, we can avoid even planned load-shedding,” he told MPs during Parliament’s special joint sitting to discuss the electricity crisis.
No image available
/ 30 January 2008
South Africans can save electricity by going to sleep earlier and boiling less water, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica on Wednesday told a special sitting of Parliament to discuss the power crisis. Nationwide power cuts began again at 3pm on Wednesday, said electricity provider Eskom.
No image available
/ 30 January 2008
South African mining companies were set to resume production this week after power failures brought the industry to a halt last Friday. Anglogold Ashanti said it expected all its mines would be in full production by the end of the week. Gold Fields spokesperson Willie Jacobsz said: ”All our mines are busy mobilising as the power flow is being restored.”
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
Anglo Platinum, the world’s largest platinum producer, on Wednesday said it was able to operate its mines at full capacity with 80% of its power needs. Spokesperson Trevor Raymond said the company’s smelting and refining operations remained in standby mode.
No image available
/ 29 January 2008
South Africans can expect current load-shedding by Eskom to continue, if not worsen, for at least the next four weeks. Eskom, which met major industrial customers and the six metro mayors on Tuesday, proposed a three-phase recovery period that would include load-shedding, at least in the initial phase.
No image available
/ 28 January 2008
President Thabo Mbeki has taken opposition leader Helen Zille into his confidence on the case of police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi and on other contentious issues, she said on Monday. She met Mbeki at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for talks that lasted for longer than two hours.
No image available
/ 25 January 2008
If, back in the 1990s, the government had chosen to spend billions of rands on new power stations instead of armaments, South Africa would not now be facing an electricity crisis, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Friday. ”It chose to spend billions of rands on arms that we do not need,” she said.
No image available
/ 25 January 2008
Switch off your lights is what the government is urging South Africans to do to immediately address what it calls a ”national electricity emergency”. On Friday, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica outlined several plans to alleviate the country’s electricity shortage.
No image available
/ 25 January 2008
South Africa’s rolling power failures are a ”national emergency” but economic growth can continue at healthy levels if energy is used more efficiently, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Friday. ”It is clear that we are running our power system at utilisation levels that are overstretching maintanance,” Erwin said.
No image available
/ 24 January 2008
The government is expected to outline its plans to deal with the country’s electricity crisis on Friday. Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica and Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin have called a media briefing for Friday on ”plans for electricity generation in South Africa”.
No image available
/ 19 January 2008
Three trains were set alight in Pretoria by angry commuters, police said on Friday. Captain Prince Mokhabela said the first train was burnt in Pretoria North at 6pm. ”There was a power failure and commuters got angry as trains were not moving. People also burned trains at Walmerton and Winterveld,” he said.
No image available
/ 18 December 2007
![]()
Sanele ”Shanee” Moroka was a girl trapped in a boy’s body with feet trapped in too tight pumps in the voting queue in Polokwane. She doesn’t believe the ANC should remain a multi-class organisation and is wondering what will happen to her poor calloused palms after having tugged the comrades ”forward towards enlightenment”.
No image available
/ 11 December 2007
There is a moment when you can sense the power draining away, when a point of no return has been reached and passed. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing that moment now in Britain, as a sense of staleness, sleaze and incompetence overwhelms his government.
No image available
/ 1 December 2007
The Richtersveld community in the Northern Cape celebrated on Saturday after regaining land taken from them in the 1920s. Spokesperson for the Department of Public Enterprises Lulu Bam said ten years of court battles saw state-owned diamond mining assets, held by the Alexkor mining company, being granted to the community.
No image available
/ 27 November 2007
After a decade-long struggle in the courts, Richtersvelders will on Saturday celebrate the return of their land in a handing over ceremony in Alexander Bay. Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Lulu Xingwana will hand over to the community the deeds to 194 600ha of land.
No image available
/ 24 November 2007
Former African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe has been found guilty of sexual harassment by a party-appointed disciplinary committee, the ANC said on Friday. Goniwe was charged with abuse of office by trying to obtain sexual favours from parliamentary intern Nomawele Njongo on October 25 last year.
No image available
/ 17 October 2007
The cost of broadband internet access is set to drop significantly with the adoption in the National Assembly on Wednesday of the Broadband Infraco Bill. The Bill provides mainly for transferring Broadband Infraco to the state from Eskom Holdings. Broadband costs in South Africa are considerably higher than the country’s international counterparts.